Addie (Pack of Misfits #1) - Raven Kennedy Page 0,7
hand in the water to do it again, my eyes follow every slow movement.
“See?” he says, drawing my gaze back to his face. “My hands are good at getting things wet.”
I laugh and groan at the same time, but I can’t deny that his words send a little excited thrill through me. “Hmm,” I say noncommittally.
When thunder erupts over head, we both look up at the sky, watching the impending storm gather. I float around for a little while longer, mostly trying to wait Herrick out. I’m not ashamed of my body or anything, but my animal is wary of strangers and she doesn’t want me to leave the water. When the thunder starts to sound more serious, though, I decide it’s time to go, despite my animal’s proclivity for wanting to stay.
Herrick watches me as I walk the rest of the way out of the water, and his attention kicks my heart rate up a notch and heats me up in the best of ways. I spot the towel that I’d left out several feet away in a pile along with my clothes. I feel his gaze burning into my back (AKA bikini-clad ass) as I walk over and pick it up. I start drying my body off with the towel, before using it to wring out my blonde hair.
All the while, he continues to watch from his spot where he’s still kneeling, but instead of it feeling weird, there’s this undeniable magnetism between us that makes his attention welcome.
I don’t know where I get the confidence, but I find myself wanting to give him a little show, so I slowly bend over to retrieve my things before tugging an oversized shirt on and turning back around to face him. I’m pretty sure I hear a groan of appreciation grumbling from his chest.
I catch him taking in my bare legs and the white t-shirt where it sticks to my green bikini top, and my lips twitch at his expression. “See you around, Herrick,” I say before turning to leave.
As soon as I start to walk away, I hear him take a few jogging steps to catch up with me. “Hey, wait up. Leaving so soon?”
“Oh, you know, things to not do, people to not see.”
Herrick chuckles again and walks backwards in front of me. “Can I get your number?”
“I’m mated,” I answer automatically. Not because it’s true, but because this guy...let’s just say I’m not his type. And that’s not me being self-deprecating. It’s just true. He’s a predator and a total hottie. I’m a misfit. We might both be shifters, but we practically come from two different worlds.
At hearing that I’m mated, his steps falter for a second before he turns to walk beside me. He leans in close and takes a big whiff of my scent. “No, you’re not,” he counters.
“Oh, did I say mated? I meant not interested.”
He laughs, and I can’t stop the smile that spreads over my face from the sound of it. “Alright, alright,” he concedes. “I see you like to play hard to get.”
I let my gaze fall to the front of his pants. “And it looks like you like to play get hard.”
This time when he laughs, he tips his head back and lets loose loud enough to echo with the thunder. The sound follows me as he hangs back. “I’m sure I’ll see you again, Lake Lady,” he calls.
“I’ll be sure to bring a spray bottle to keep you away,” I say over my shoulder.
His laugh tapers off with the thunder, and by the time I get to my beat-up Nissan, the skies have opened up and the rain is pouring down hard. Of course, the rain wouldn’t be an issue if I didn’t have a busted window that doesn’t roll up all the way. I spend the entire drive getting pelted by rain drops, soaking the interior of my car. Not that it’s really hurting much. The car is older than me, and has so many miles on it that the odometer has stopped working.
By the time I get to the Aberrant compound, the fabric of the seats are squishing and there’s a good inch of water on the floorboards. I was already wet from the lake, but the rain doused me so much that my hair is plastered to my face and I’m seriously regretting this white t-shirt.
I idle the car as I reach the grounds’ gates. The enforcers take shifts to stand watch at the guard tower,